


Follow Me Home

by Lokincest



Category: Marvel, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Lokitty, Mutual Pining, Neighbors, Pets, Thorgi, socially awkward Odin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 18:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4756730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokincest/pseuds/Lokincest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every day Thor would go to the window and look outside, his little tail wagging whenever he could see Loki.  Thor would stay at the window all day, pining for that cat while Odin listened to Frigga play the piano.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Follow Me Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vee017](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vee017/gifts).



Odin was in the middle of shaving when a loud bark startled him, causing the razor to slip. He set the razor aside, taking a deep breath while Thor continued to bark his head off. There was only a small nick, no real damage done, but to his annoyance, Thor didn't stop barking.

Frowning in the mirror, Odin wiped the rest of the shaving cream off of his face and left the bathroom, yelling at Thor to be quiet.

Thor was a good dog - a stout corgi with white and gold fur. Thor was large for his breed, and despite his short legs, he always stood proudly like he was a little prince. Thor was gentle and friendly, almost perpetually smiling, but he also had a protective nature if anyone seemed threatening. Thor had once protected a stranger's child from an ill-tempered dog that was almost twice his size. Odin was proud of him for it. 

For the most part, Thor was obedient and well-behaved. But Thor was still young and had some puppy left in him. There were other times when, unfortunately, Thor could be a little hyperactive and didn't always want to listen.

This was one of those times. 

"Quiet, Thor!" Odin bellowed, trying to listen for a knock at the door. Thor usually only barked when there was a visitor. But no one was outside when Odin opened the door, and Thor kept barking from somewhere else. It was not an intimidating bark, but a happy one, as if trying to seek attention. "What in the nine hells are you barking about?"

That was when Odin realized that Thor was in the living room, standing up on his short hind legs to peer out the window. His wet nose had left marks on the glass, and when Odin approached Thor wagged his tail, his tongue lolling out of his mouth happily, and he whined the same way when he wanted a treat or a ball, as if complaining to Odin that it was unfair to have to wait for the things that he wanted.

Odin pulled the curtain back and tried to see what it was that had Thor so worked up.

There was nothing in the yard, but then Odin looked up and saw that the neighbor's window directly opposite of his was open. On the window's ledge, there was a sleek black cat lying in the sun, lazily grooming itself. As Odin looked at the cat, it looked up at him with slitted green eyes and then resumed licking its paws while watching them both, as if teasing. Thor whined again.

"Fool dog," Odin chided, not without some affection, but then suddenly a person stepped in front of the window.

It was a woman, with sun-kissed hair and fair skin. Odin had never seen his neighbor before. He had seen moving trucks a few weeks ago and that was all. He had no idea that his new neighbor was female, or so lovely, with the most beautiful eyes and red lips curving up into a puzzled smile –

With a start, Odin realized that he had been staring into her window – staring _at her_ – and she was looking back at him.

His heart was pounding and he felt his face go red against his will. He lifted his hand in a jerky, awkward wave and then grabbed Thor by his collar, pulling him away from the window and yanking the curtains shut again.

For a second, Odin stood still, processing what had just happened. His new neighbor likely thought that he was a creep now. His face felt impossibly hotter.

"Fool dog," Odin repeated softly while Thor smiled up at him, panting.

He filled Thor's bowl with fresh kibble, hoping to distract him. It wasn't until later when he was eating toast and reading the newspaper that he happened to rub his hand across his chin and remember that he never finished shaving.

 

\- - 

 

For the next few days, Odin found himself looking at the neighbor's yard whenever he came and left for work. Often the driveway was empty, but at night there was a teal car parked in the yard. He only ever saw the one.

When he was at home, he would often wonder where Thor had gone to. And it became a regular occurrence that when Thor disappeared from his side he would find him at the same window, his little paws resting on the sill, head under the curtain, tail wagging.

 

\- -

 

Odin was used to being a solitary person. He didn't care about what others did - so long as they kept out his business, he kept out of theirs. So when every now and then he caught himself being curious, he would physically shake himself, confused by his own behavior. 

It shouldn't matter how many cars were parked next door or not. 

It shouldn't matter if he never happened to see evidence of anyone else living in that house with her

It shouldn't matter if he noticed that lovely woman with the sun-kissed hair coming out of her house every morning for a jog.

But he caught himself wondering if that teal car was something that would reflect her personality, and only hers.

He caught himself lingering at their mailboxes, built to stand side-by-side. Her name was printed neatly next to his and glossed in fresh black. _Frigga Fjörgynn_. He found himself wondering, if he opened her box and took a peak inside, if the letters would be prefixed with a _Mrs._ or a _Ms._ If he happened to visit at the right time, would she smile and wave to him when she gathered her mail? Would her hand be lovely and bare, or lovely and glinting with a ring of some significance?

He caught himself rising from bed in the morning and clipping on Thor's leash right away. And if he happened to see a figure jogging a distance ahead of them, he pretended that it was a coincidence. Thor would always perk up and start to eagerly pull ahead, but Odin resisted the tug on the leash, and the tug on his heart.

 

\- -

 

One morning, Odin had just stepped out the door with Thor for their morning walk when his dog suddenly pulled away and sprinted to the neighbor's yard.

"Thor!" Odin yelled, and then cringed at the echo of his own voice along the empty streets in the silent, misty pre-dawn.

He trudged across the lawn, dew wetting his shoes. Fortunately, Odin had a slight idea of where Thor might go, and sure enough, that was where he found him. His dog was under the neighbor's window, whining pitifully because he had realized that, sadly, his short little legs did not allow him to stand high enough to see into the window. The neighbor's black cat was perched above, peering down at Thor and hissing. Thor smiled at the sight of him.

"Thor, get away," Odin scolded in a hushed voice. Thor put his paws down, but only to sit down on the grass and gaze up at the cat. Neither Odin's scolding nor the cat's hissing actually seemed to worry Thor, as if he had done nothing wrong. But truly, the cat didn't seem to actually feel harassed – it clawed at the air lazily as if reaching for Thor, daring him to come close enough to scratch, and then suddenly flopped over and began purring as if pleased by all of the attention.

"Hello?" a woman's voice questioned, but not from inside the house. Frigga stepped around the edge of the house, dressed in her jogging clothes – purple sneakers, black capris, and a teal tank-top.

Odin grabbed Thor's leash and stepped back, pulling Thor closer to their own property, but Thor stayed as far as he could at the end of his leash, looking at Frigga and then at the black cat, smiling, his tongue lolling from his mouth.

"I'm sorry," Odin said. "I was just about to take Thor for a walk and he saw your cat. I, uh, I think he likes him."

Frigga came closer, lifting an eyebrow in amusement when she saw her cat flopped in the windowsill.

"That's so funny. Loki doesn't usually like anyone," she commented. As she said so, Loki sat up and pointedly stared at nothing, as if he were unaware that any of them existed. "I guess we haven't actually met each other yet. My name is Frigga," she said, extending an elegant hand towards him.

"Odin," he said, switching Thor's leash into his other hand awkwardly and then grasping hers in a firm, quick shake that was perhaps a little too hasty. He only realized it once he had let go, and wished that he had kept her soft cool hand in his for even a second longer. She wore no rings.

"You said your dog's name is Thor?" she asked, and Odin nodded. Frigga beamed and crouched down, beckoning Thor closer. He immediately waddled into her arms, almost trying to climb into her lap. His entire fluffy back end was wiggling with joy, his tongue giving enthusiastic puppy kisses. Frigga laughed, and Odin thought it was the most lovely sound he had ever heard, and that it suited her. "Now I know the names of the handsome men who've been watching me from next door," she whispered to Thor, giving him a conspiring wink.

Frigga pulled back, rubbing Thor's ears for a moment and then stood up.

"I have to get going," she said, "but it was nice meeting you both." Frigga smiled again and then walked to the sidewalk, and started jogging along her usual route around the block.

Thor stared after her longingly, as if he had just seen a goddess.

"I know," Odin said softly, and took Thor in the opposite direction.

When their paths crossed, Frigga passed them with a friendly, "Hi again," and a brilliant smile.

Thor tried to turn around and follow her home. Odin had a mighty urge to allow it.

 

\- - 

 

The next day, Odin was home early from work, and could hear the faint notes of a piano being played.

It wasn't the first time he had heard it, but this was the first time he could hear it so clearly. Before, he had thought it might just be a recording of some classical piece. But now he could tell that this was actually someone sitting at the keys and practicing.

Feeling as if he was in a dream, Odin went to the window and opened it.

The music became louder, each note carrying through the air with resounding clarity. Odin heard the person playing hesitate at the keys, selecting their notes with slow care for a moment. There was a pause and then the music began again – a delicate string of notes building into a complex chain of almost surreal beauty, like a tapestry being woven with sound.

It had to be Frigga. Odin could not see her through her own window, but he knew... those slender fingers were made to create something as magnificent as this. He could envision her seated before a dark and gleaming piano, something old but cherished, her elegant hands poised above the keys.

For the next few hours, Odin listened to her playing. Classical music was not something that Odin had ever given thought to, and he was ashamed to admit he could not recognize the names of any songs or their composers even if they sounded familiar. But he could honestly say that the music had never sounded so vibrant before, so moving, so meaningful and _alive_. Sometimes there were only a few notes or phrases at a time, with long pauses in between, but even those fragmented notes were enchanting.

He did not particularly do anything out of the ordinary for his usual day. He puts his clothes into the wash and then the dryer, he read a bit, he poured himself a cup of coffee and decided on what he wanted for dinner. Things that he did every day. But somehow now it all felt so different, so much richer than before, so pleasant. It was as if Frigga's presence came to sit beside him along with her music, keeping him company.

When the last pause in the music became an unending one, Odin felt the silence even more acutely. It weighed heavily on him, reminding him that his house was empty, and he was alone.

On impulse, Odin turned the TV on, hoping to fill the silence with a substitute. The tinny sound only grated on him – nothing could begin to replace the only sounds that he wanted to hear. The sounds of _her_. Frigga's fingers gliding across a keyboard. Her soft, even voice speaking to him.

Instead, Odin made himself dinner, content with the domestic sounds of pots and silverware clanking together. He almost grabbed a second plate for the table before he stopped himself. When he sat down, Thor came to find him. For once Odin let Thor have a scrap of food, scratching him behind the ear and then telling him to lie down and stop begging. With a happy sigh, Thor complied, flopping onto the floor with an almost comical _plop_ , nuzzling his head onto Odin's foot.

When he went to bed, he left the window open.

 

\- - 

 

Odin's days became filled with music. He became accustomed to having the lovely sound accompany him at different times during the day. Sometimes it was early in the day, while he shaved. Other times it while he read, or sat studying papers from work, or just came home and loosened his tie.

Every day Thor would go to the window and look outside, his little tail wagging whenever he could see Loki. Thor would stay at the window all day, pining for that cat while Odin listened to Frigga play the piano.

They were the happiest days that he could recall. 

The nights were the loneliest.

 

\- - 

 

It was a warm morning and Odin was getting ready for work when once again, Thor started barking.

Odin sighed, recognizing that happy, playful bark and came from his room, his tie undone around his neck. Thor was indeed in the window, but his barks had turned into urgent whining, his entire body wiggling with excitement.

Then Odin heard a meow in reply. When he drew back the curtain he saw Loki, not in the window but on the ground below his. The black cat's tail was swishing in the air and he kept pacing, then pausing to look up and meow while Thor whined in reply.

"Go home, Loki," Odin told him, already feeling foolish, because he knew that cats only did whatever they wanted.

Loki meowed at him, and it sounded like defiance.

Odin shook his head and dressed for work. On his way out the door, he saw Loki still standing in the yard. Loki didn't run away, but his entire body went tense when Odin picked him up, like passive resistance. Frigga's car was gone, so Odin simply brought him back to his respective windowsill. As he did so, he couldn't help but see inside and notice a piano on the other side of the room. It was as dark and grand as he had imagined it, and the discovery pleased him, but Odin quickly looked away, not one to be accused of being nosy. He'd never meant to get so close in the first place. If it wasn't for that damn cat... 

He set Loki back in the windowsill. From the opposite window, Thor whined pitifully, smiling at the same time.

"Stay here," Odin told Loki.

Loki flopped over, sunning himself, the picture of innocence.

 

 

\- - 

 

 

Frigga's car was already in her driveway when Odin returned from work.

He went home, hoping to himself that she would be practicing her piano this evening, that he hadn't already missed her performance.

Ten minutes later, Frigga was knocking at his door.

"Hi," Odin said in surprise, and then couldn't help but realize that she looked distressed. "Is something wrong?"

"Have you seen Loki?"

"Loki?" Odin repeated.

"My cat," Frigga sounded distraught. "He's black with green eyes. I'm sorry to bother you but I looked everywhere and I can't find him. I saw him this morning but when I got home he was gone."

"Yes, I remember Loki," Odin assured her. "When I left for work, he was outside of my window. You weren't home so I just put him back where he usually sits, in your window across from mine. He must have jumped out again."

Frigga looked even more concerned. "I don't understand. He never leaves home. Honestly, he hates going outside. He's the most spoiled cat I've ever had."

Odin shrugged. "He was outside, teasing Thor. He probably wandered off."

"He could get hit by a car," Frigga whispered.

Odin felt a stab of guilt, seeing how ashen her face had become. "Maybe he's just hiding in the house. Cats are like that sometimes, and you'll never find them until they decide they want to come out."

"Maybe," Frigga repeated, doubtful. "But I looked everywhere. There aren't a lot of places he could hide."

"You'd be surprised," Odin said. "Even if he did go outside, you said he prefers being indoors. I'm sure he'll be on your doorstep by nightfall."

"I hope so," Frigga sighed. "Sorry for bothering you."

"It's not a bother," Odin said.

Frigga smiled weakly and stepped away. "I should go. I want to keep looking before it's too dark."

"Okay," Odin said, and then quickly added, "I hope you find him," to her retreating figure, before awkwardly shutting the door.

He wished he had offered to help her look. It was something that in his heart he had already promised. Of course he was going to help her. It went without saying. But only afterward did he realize that the words never actually came out of his mouth. That was kind of his problem – finding the right words to say. He wished he'd said something better to her, but knew that nothing short of finding her lost cat would really help. Odin had always felt that action spoke louder than words. But he forgot that other people could not so easily read his intentions. She probably thought he didn't care.

Maybe it was better that he hadn't said he'd help – he wanted just a few minutes to change his work clothes first, and didn't want to ask her to wait for him. And he couldn't guarantee that he'd find the thing, only that he could try. Somehow he thought it was better if he didn't make promises, but kept them anyway. There was a flashlight in his closet, and he already had a few places in mind around the property where a cat might hide. He would help her look until it was too dark to see. There had to be a way to lure Loki back, even if he had to open a can of tuna. The look on Frigga's face had told him that Loki was special to her. Maybe he was all that she had. He couldn't imagine if he ever lost Thor.

And speaking of Thor...

Odin was surprised that Thor hadn't barked as soon as Frigga knocked on the door. In fact, he hadn't even seen his dog when he came home.

Panic stuck in Odin's chest like a needle. Frigga's window had been open, and so had his. And now Thor was missing as well. 

There was no way that Thor would jump out of the window... it wasn't a terrible height, perhaps four or five feet off the ground, but to Thor it had to seem like a mighty drop. Odin couldn't imagine Thor being brave enough to do it. But... maybe he _had _... and if Thor had chased Loki...__

__"Thor," Odin called, but there was no reply. No patter of little paws against the floor._ _

__He had already been concerned, but now there was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had to search for them. He couldn't bear the idea that it might be his fault for Loki going missing. His own fault for Thor disappearing as well. And if neither of them ever returned... he couldn't let himself finish that thought. Odin went to his bedroom to grab his flashlight, but as soon as he turned on the light, it was no longer necessary._ _

__Thor was lying on his bed, with Loki curled up against his side._ _

__As soon as Thor saw Odin he put his head down in shame. He knew he wasn't allowed on the bed. Loki, however, continued to purr shamelessly, and even snuggled a little closer to Thor._ _

__Odin said nothing, just left the room, and went to find Frigga._ _

__A while later, he brought her back, only telling her that he had found Loki._ _

__"Oh," Frigga exhaled when she saw them together. Thor thumped his tail against the mattress, still unsure if he was going to be in trouble or not. She sat down at the edge of the bed and pet Thor and then Loki, surprised by how much he was purring, how content the two were to be together._ _

__She smiled with strange humor, as if she simply didn't know what to do with them. "I think my cat likes your dog," she said to Odin._ _

__"That's good," Odin said._ _

__"Is it?"_ _

__"Thor has been pining for Loki since he laid eyes on him, I think," Odin explained._ _

__Frigga hmm'd and said to herself, "I know the feeling."_ _

__Odin could hear his blood pounding in his ears. "So do I," he said, his throat dry._ _

__"It's good to know when the feeling is mutual," Frigga said, and then looked at Odin with no small significance. She only seemed to be waiting._ _

__"Would you... would you like to stay for dinner?" Odin asked._ _

__Frigga gave him the kind of smile that made him think of a sunrise._ _

__"I think I would _love_ to."_ _

**Author's Note:**

> For Millsdottir, who asked for Odin's corgi, Thor, pining for Frigga's cat, Loki.  
> Also special thanks for Shia and Emmy who were very understanding when I suddenly sat down and started writing this entire thing without explanation in the middle of our sleepover. x_x You guys are the best.


End file.
